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44th Session of the Commission on
the Status of Women (Beijing +5 PrepCom)
New York, 28 February - 17 March 2000
 

Highlights from Thursday, 2 March
In the morning, delegates met in a closed Working Group on Communications. In the afternoon, delegates met in Plenary and adopted four resolutions relating to: release of women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts; situation of women and girls in Afghanistan; situation of and assistance to Palestinian women; and women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS. The Commission also adopted the provisional agenda for CSW-45 and the CSw-44 report. On Friday, CSW-44 acting as the Preparatory Committee to the Special Session of the General Assembly will begin its work.

 

Yakin Erturk, Director, Division for the Advancement of Women
Draft Resolutions
Zambia (left) introduced the draft resolution on women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS, and Nigeria, on behalf of the G-77/China (right), introduced draft resolution on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women

Palestine (left) spoke on the draft resolution regarding the situation of Palestinian women. Israel (right) said the situation of women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was better than that of women in most countries and called for focused attention to urgent women's issues rather than to political ones. The Syrian Arab Republic called for, and Lebanon supported, the right of Palestinian women to self-determination and lamented the absence of reference to Security Council resolutions and to the principle of "Land for Peace" in the text of the resolution. Iran said a comprehensive and fair solution for peace rests in the restoration of all rights of Palestinian people and the end of the Israeli occupation.
Women and Human Rights: Islamic Law and CEDAW
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) convened this panel to discuss the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Islamic Shari'a law. The panel explored the potential and importance of the coexistence of Islamic law and government commitments under international human rights law and CEDAW.
Panelists (left to right): Farida Bannani, family law researcher at the University of Marraakkech, Morocco, spoke about how the CEDAW reservations have been set up and what they mean; Moderator Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, UNIFEM; Sa'ed Hamid, legal advisor to the women's rights group Mashriquiyat, Gaza City, discussed differences between secular and holy interpretations of Islamic text, and looked at interpretations and practices compatible with human rights; and Zeinab Radwan, Dean of the College of Arab and Islamic Studies, Cairo University, assessed the reform of personal status laws, particularly in Egypt.

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Farida Bannani


ENB Summary of CSW-43
Linkages Coverage of the Fourth World Conference on Women
 Linkages Coverage of CSW-43
 Secretariat web site with official documents and information for NGO participants
ENB's Background Information on CSW-44
 Other links (NGOs, research institutes, etc)
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